Termite shield



April 1943' A.' A. TENNFIS-ON ETAL 2,315,989

' TERMITE SHIELD Filed Aug. 7, 1940 'INVENTORS Patented Apr. 6, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TERMITE SHIELD Alfred A. Tennison, Texarkana, Ark., and James D. Tennison, Memphis, Tenn.

Application August 7, 1940, Serial No. 351,734

3 Claims. (01. 48-107) This invention relates to shields for use in building construction to protect woodwork against the ravages of termites and like vermin.

Termite shields should be shaped to provide an eliective barrier against termite activities, and it is also important that the seams or joints between the shields be well sealed or closed else the shield will fail to fulfill its function; and an object of the present invention is to provide a termite shield which meets both of these requirements.

Another object is to provide a shield of the type specified wherein the shields may be manufactured in convenient sizes and assembled on the job with comparative ease and at the same time have an effectively sealed joint between the shields.

A further object is to provide a shield having a shape which will impose an efiective barrier against the activities of termites, such shape being also conducive to an efiicient joint between contiguous shields.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages will become apparent in view of the following description taken in conjunction with the drawin wherein:

Fi 1 is a view in sectional elevation of the foundation of a building, illustrating the improved termite shield structure applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a broken perspective view of one of the shields of Fig. 1, shown as an outside shield;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the shield joint shown open or prior to being flattened down into a tight seam; Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4--4, Fig. 2, the joint being shown flattened down or closed.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the shields of Fig. 2, particularly illustrating the coordinated interlock-ed seam and overlapping joint prior to installation.

Referring to the drawing in detail, a building foundation is indicated at 5 and forms a support for woodwork such as the floor 6 and upright 1.

There are two types of shields illustrated in Fig. 1, the one shield being particularly adapted for insertion between the woodwork and the foundation and other shield being particularly adapted for application to the inner side or surface of the foundation, both shields having certain features in common as will hereinafter appear. The outer shield is generally indicated at 8. and in its preferred form comprises a piece of sheet metal having a substantially fiat body portion 8a which forms the base of the shield and a downwardly bent outer edge portion 811 which coacts with the adjacent body portion to form a barrier against the activities of termites and'likevermin.

To provide an effective-combinedseam and joint, each shield has its opposite edges formed with interlocking hook-shap'edjointst and III, both joints being similar except'one is formed on the top of the shield and the other on the bottom. The joints when initially formed. are open, as illustrated'in Fig. 3, so that they will readily telescope into one another when the shields are assembled on the job and may; then be flattened down into a seam by hammering or any other suitable method, the resultant seam being illustrated in Fig. 4. r I 1 At the point where the body portion 8a merges with the downwardly bent portion 812, the joints 9 and I0 terminate, the metal at this point being sheared, providing laterally projecting wings ll and I 2. These wings overlap when the shields are laid, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 and together with the seams just described present an absolute barrier to termites.

When the shields are assembled on the job, it is only necessary to slide the joint fold of one shield in telescoping relation with the contiguous and complementary joint fold of the adjacent shield until the downwardly bent portions 8a contact one another, whereupon the folds are pounded down or flattenedinto a'tight seam simultaneously bringing the wings into close overlapped relation at the end of the seam.

The shield shown applied to the inside of the foundation in Fig. 1 may be used with equal effectiveness at the outside or at any other suitable point but is particularly adapted for use as illustrated. This shield comprises a wall portion I 2a which at its lower edge has an inwardly reversely bent wall contacting or bearing portion I22; and at its upper end has a contacting bearing portion He. The upper portion of the shield is formed with an outwardly inclined portion 12d, a substantially horizontal portion lZe terminating in a downwardly projecting portion I21. In applying the shield, the latter may be attached to the foundation by nails l3 and a suitable insecticide and sealing material I4 applied at the joint between the portion l2d and the foundation.

This type of shield may also be provided with interlocking curled edge joints and overlapping wing joints corresponding to the portions 9, I0, I l and I2 of the shield 8. The curled edge joints may be used for the wall portion Ho and the wing joints for remaining portions.

A shield of the type herein disclosed has not only proved effective as a barrier against the passage of termites, but may also be shipped in sizes or dimensions best adapted for the particular job and assembled without the use of soldering to give a tightly locked joint.

It will also be noted that formation of the curled edge seam joints 9, I and the overlapping wings II, I2 constitute a comparatively simple operation and involves no waste metal or com plicated machinery, the shield being first sheared or cut at the point where the bend in the shield occurs and the edges curled, leaving the wings projecting free. The bend may be formed simultaneously with the edge curling operation, or may constitute a separate step.

It will be understood that certain changes in structure of the improved shield may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A termite shield having a substantially flat portion terminating at one-end in a downwardly bent portion, the opposite sides of the shield being formed with reversely curled edges at right angles to the bend of the bent portion, adapted for longitudinal sliding telescoping engagement with complementary curled edges of adjacent shields during installation and adapted thereafter to be flattened down to provide tight seams and said downwardly bent portion having laterally projecting wings resulting from formation of said curled edge portions, said wings being adapted to overlap complementary wings of said adjacent shields to complete sealing of one end of each seam throughout the length of the shield.

2. A termite shield comprising a body portion and an integral portion bent at an angle to the body portion, said body portion having a curled edge at a right angle to the bend adapted for longitudinal sliding telescoping engagement with a complementary edge of an adjacent shield during installation of a plurality of shields and adapted subsequently to be flattened to provide a tight seam and said angularly bent portion having a laterally projecting wing resulting from formation of said curled edge adapted to overlap a contiguous and complementary angular shaped portion of said adjacent shield to seal one end of the seam.

3. The method of fabricating and installing termite shields which consists in providing a sheet metal blank with a substantially flat body portion and an integral downwardly bent flattened portion at one end of the blank, cutting the opposite edges of the blank along the line of bend inwardly a predetermined distance and reversely curling the opposite marginal edges of the flat body portion at right angles to the fold of the bent portion to provide telescoping seams and a laterally projecting wing at the end of each seam, telescoping the reversely curled edges of one shield with the complementary edges of an adjacent shield during installation leaving the laterally projecting wings in overlapping relation, and then flattening the telescoped curled edges to provide a tight seam with said overlapping wings coacting to seal one end of each seam throughout the entire length of the shield.

ALFRED A. TENNISON. J. D. TENNISON. 

